Rowing Closes Fall Season with Top-10 Finish at Head of the Hooch in ChattanoogaThe Crimson Tide finished seventh in the Open 8+ race

Nov. 3, 2013

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -
The Alabama rowing team earned a top-10 finish in the Open 8+ on the last day of the Head of the Hooch Regatta Sunday on the Tennessee River.

"Overall, I'm pleased with how the weekend went," UA head coach Larry Davis said. "One of the things we've been working on this fall is being aggressive every time out all the way down the course and I think we've made progress in that area. In breaking down the 500s, I think we're also making up some ground on our rivals."

The Crimson Tide's "A" boat turned in a time of 15:55.0 to take seventh place in the Open 8+ while Miami took first place with a 15:25.7. Alabama's "A" boat was a minute faster over the 5,000-meter course than it had been the day before, which came from a combination of issues.

"The conditions were vastly different between the two days," Davis said. "On Saturday there was a strong headwind and we're not a crew that has an easy time with those kinds of conditions. Today the conditions were more favorable. We also moved some things around within the boats and that made a difference as well."

The Tide's "B" boat was 12th with a time of 16:07.5 and its "C" boat was 23rd after crossing the line at 16:59.9. The Tide's final two boats finished 30th and 36th with times of 17:37.0 and 19:00.7, respectively.

With two top-20 finishes on Sunday, the Tide amassed eight on the weekend. The Chattanooga-based regatta closed out the fall portion of the UA rowing team's 2013-14 season.

"There are several girls in our lower boats who seem to be ready to move up and that will make us a little taller, and a little faster going into the spring," Davis said. "Right now, everyone is anxious to keep moving forward and build on what've accomplished to this point."